PAM process crash via netlink alignment underflow
Published May 12, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026
Out-of-bounds read in Strykar pam_authnft before 0.2.0-alpha allows local users to crash a PAM process via a crafted netlink reply. The reply walker accepts an unaligned nlmsg_len, subtracts its larger aligned length from the remaining size, and dereferences beyond the heap buffer. Reachability requires rhost_policy=kernel and a same-host process with CAP_NET_ADMIN; the default PAM policy does not traverse this parser.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds read in Strykar pam_authnft before 0.2.0-alpha allows local users to crash a PAM process via a crafted netlink reply. The reply walker accepts an unaligned nlmsg_len, subtracts its larger aligned length from the remaining size, and dereferences beyond the heap buffer. Reachability requires rhost_policy=kernel and a same-host process with CAP_NET_ADMIN; the default PAM policy does not traverse this parser.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-43916
- Published
- May 12, 2026
- Updated
- May 12, 2026
- Vendor
- Strykar
- Product
- pam_authnft
- Classifications
- CWE-191, CWE-125, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 12, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 0.2.0-alpha
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- regression_oob_alignment_underflow libFuzzer inputproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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